
" THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE. 




DISCOURSE, 



DELIVERED TN TRINITY CHURCH 



ON FRIDAY, MAY 14th, 1841, 



THE DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER Q.ECOMMENDED BY THE 
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 



BY 



GEORGE UPFOLD, D. D. 

KECTOR OF TRINITY CHrRCH. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 



PRINTED BY A. JAYNES,— FRANKLIN HEAD,— PITTSBURGH. 



1841. 





THE SINS OF THE TEOPLE.' 



D 1 S C O II R S E, 



DELIVERED IN TRINITY CHURCH. 



ON FRIDAY, MAY 14th, 1841, 



THE DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER RECOMMENDED BY THE 
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

BY V^ .'^• 

GEORCE UPFOLD, J). D. 

RECTOR ni TRINITY CHURCH. 



r n B L 1 s II E i> n V r e q ti e s t. 



rr;JNTKD EV a IAYNES,— franklin HEAD,-nTTSBURGH. 

18 4.1. 



- •3^2 



I'.MTSBUROH, Muy -loth, iB'il 

hnv. aEORGK Ul'tOl-U, b. U 

JPear Sir, — Many porsons of your congregation have expressed 
a strong desire to peruse the very able and appropriate discourse which ypu delivered 
yesterday, on occasion of the National Fast; and in their behalf, we request a copy for 
publication. Will you be pleased to yield to that desire, by furnishing a copy to the 
undersigned. 

Very RespecrfuUy Your's, &c. 

WM. B. M'CLURE. 
GEORGE R. WHITE. 
SAMUEL P. DARLINGTON 
GEORGE P. SMITH. 
WJLSON M'CANDLESS. 
THOMAS M. HOWE. 
JOHN D. DAVIS. 



Mount HoaART, May I5di, 1841. 
Geittlemen : 

My discourse of yesterday was prepared in haste, ainid many interrup 

lions from pastoral and other engagements. I am pleased to find it meets your ai)pro- 

bation; and relying on your judgment, such as it is, it is at your service for publicatiou. 

The manuscript, I fear, cannot be read without transcribing, and being about to set out 

for the annual Convention of the Diocese, this will not be practicable until njy return, 

at the end of two weeks. At that tune, I will comply wiih your request for a copy 

for publication. 

Very Truly and Respectfully, 

Your Friend and Pasior, 

GEORGE UPFOLD. 

To William B. M'Clurc, George R. White, Samuel P. Darlington, George P. Smith, 
WiUon M'Catidless, Tkomaf ^f. Hnice, and John D. Pavia. 



TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITEl) STATES. 



A RECOMMENDATION. 

When a Christian People feel themselves to be overtaken by 
a great public calamity, it becomes them to humble themselves 
under the dispensation of Divine Providence ; to recognize his 
righteous government over the children of men ; to acknowledge 
his goodness in time past, as well as their own unworthiness ; 
and to supplicate his merciful protection for the future. 

The death of William Henry Harrison, late President of 
the United States, so soon after his elevation to that high office, 
is a bereavement peculiarly calculated to be regarded as a heavy 
affliction, and to impress all minds with a sense of the uncer- 
tainty of human things, and of the dependence of nations, as well 
as of individuals, upon our heavenly Parent. 

I have thought, therefore, that I should be acting in conformity 

with the general expectation and feelings of the community, in 

recommending, as I now do, to the People of the United States, 

of every religious denomination, that, according to their several 

modes and forms of worship, they observe a day of Fasting and 

Prayer, by such religious services as may be suitable on the 

occasion. And I recommend Friday, the 14th day of May next, 

for that purpose, to the end that, on that day, we may all with 

one accord, join in humble and reverential approach to Him, in 

whose hands we are, invoking Him to inspire us with a proper 

spirit and temper of heart and mind, under these frowns of his 

providence, and still to bestow his gracious benedictions upon oui 

government and our country. 

JOHN TYLER. 
Washington, April 13th, 1841. 



t; p E ( ; I A 1. ;:^ i: li v i c e s e r i- u r r h, 

BY THE BISHOP 01" THE DIOCESE. 



Mornin? Prayer. 

PiiopER I'sALMs, — To be tlic Aiithcm in the Burial Service, taken from 
Psalms xxxix and xc. 

First Lesson, — Job xiv. 

Second IjEsson, — Rom. xiii. 

Before the two final prayers in the Litany, the special PRAVEn, given be- 
low, to be used. 

After the collect for the -1th Sunday after Easter, the speciai. coli.ecp, printed 
below, (Irom liie Liturgy of tiie Church of England,) to be used. 

Evening Prayer. 

The third selection of Psalms. 

First Lesson, — Dan. ix. 3 to 14, inclusive. 

Second Lesson, — 1 Pet. ii. 13, to the end. 

The SPECIAL collect to be used after the collect for the day. 

The SPECIAL PRAYER to be used before the two final prayers of evening service. 

SPECIAL PllAYKK. 

Oh Lord our God! who art tlic refuge of thy people, and the only sup- 
port of nations, we acknowledge tiiy su])reinc dominion in all the Idessings, 
and in all the ■sorrows, wherewltli thou liast visited our country. Thy sove- 
reign bounty gave us national existence, and hatli in many ways cxaUed ns. 
Thy sovereign correction hath often overshadowed us with public gloom, and 
taught us that our only dependence is on thee. And now, O righteous GodI 
thou hast again hid thyself, and covcied our whole land with mourning, in 
removing from us the late pkesiuent of the united states — him wliom tiiv 
providence bad recently set over us as (hy cliief minister, for our civil wel- 
fare. \Vc confess that thine hand hath brouglit this evil upon us;. We con- 
fess that our sins have deserved this our bereavement of the common Father 
of the people. And we bow to th}' judgment in deep humiliation and reve- 
rence, with weeping hearts and contrite spirits, praying thee to sanctify our 
chastisement by the Holy Ghost, tliat it may yield in us the fruit of right- 
eousness, to thy glory and our everlasting good. 

Give tliy benign and tender protection, O Lord, and thy eternal blessing, 
to the widow and all the family of the late President of the United States, 
and be to them their perpetual stay and comfort. 

(iive thine especial protection, O Lord, and thy eternal blessing, to the 
President of the United States, and vouchsafe to upiiold him in health, in 
strength, in wisdom, and in thy holy fear. 

Give thy protection, O Lord, and thy eternal blessing, to the Governor of 
this State, to tlic (iovernors of the other States in this Union, and to all in 
<:ivil aullinrity, and grant that they may rule faithfully over those commit- 
ted to their charge. 

Give thv protection, O Lord, and thy eternal blessing, to the People of the 
[Jnitcil Stales, and niakc them always obedient to the spirit of order, unit}', 
and concord. And vouchsafe to give peace in out land, and in all the earth, 
O gracious flodl 

Wc ask these things in the name and for tlie merits of thy Son Jcsiis 
Clirisf, our lilcssid I.oidnnd Saviour — Amev. 

SPECIAI, C'OLLICCT. 

() (Jod, whosi- natiirr and prop.Tly is ever to have mercy and to forgive, 
receive uiir humble jH-titions; anil though we be tied and bound with the chain 
of our «inM, yet Irt the pilifulncss of thy great mercy loose lis, for tlu; iionor 
of Jesus ClirlMl, (Kir Mi-ilialm ninl Advoeilc — Amfn 



TO TIIK CONGREnATK'N OF TIMNITY f'TTTTKCH. 

THIS D I S C O U R S E, D E L 1 V E R E D BEFORE T H E AJ . 

IS, IN THE HOPE AND TRUST 

THAT ITS TERUSAL MAY DEEPEN THEIR RELIGIOUS SENSIBILITIES, 

AND LEAD THEM TO LOOK TO THE TRUE AND ONLY SOURCE 

OF NATIONAL RROSPERITY, ' 

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THEIR AFFECTIONATE PASTOR. 

THE AUTHOR 



A Dl SCO U RSE, <fcc. 



Mv Brethren: 

The occasion wliich brings us together this 
morning, is one of mournful and affecting solemnity. 
A severe national calamity hath befallen us, without a 
precedent in the annals of our country. In the myste- 
rious providence of God, the Chief Magistrate of this 
Republic, within one brief month of his inauguration 
to office, has fliUen before the universal Destroyer, and 
with all his clustering honors, is laid low in the dust. 
Another great and good man is numbered with the 
illustrious dead — cut off, just as he had attained, by a 
large majority of the suffrages of a free people, the 
highest summit of earthly ambition; and before oppor- 
tunity was aflforded him, by the maturity of a single 
measure of government, to develope the intended poli- 
cy of his administration, and fulfil the confident antici- 
pations of his friends, and disarm the apprehensions 
and distrust of his opponents. 

The event, my brethren, is fraught with salutary and 
awakening instruction. It brings home to us the fact, 
so important for us to ponder and improve, but, amid 
the overweening cares, the ambitious aspirings, and the 
engrossing pursuits of this perishing world, so com- 
2 



10 

nionlv forgotlen, — 'What sliadovvs we are, and what 
shadows we pursue!' A few weeks since, he, whose pre- 
juaturo decease a nation mourns, was an honored visiter 
in (liis city, on liis way to the mclropdhs, to assume the 
lofty functions of President of these United States. 
You saw him amid the pomp and pageantry of a civic 
triumph, plain and simple in appearance and manners, 
yet full of hope and bright anticipation. His arrival 
was hailed widi acclamations, and crowds attended his 
progress. You beheld him, on the same occasion, se- 
(jucstered tor a while from the bustle and parade of 
his welcome visit, in a scene more congenial to his 
principles and leehngs, an humble and devout wor- 
sliipper in this house of prayer;* and noted his exem- 
plary demeanor, while he united with us in supplica- 
tions and praises to the Most High, and listened to the 
reading and preaching of the word of Truth. 

To him, and to all, the season was one of joy and 
gratulation. He was about to reap the rich reward 
of long and meritorious services, of faithful and un- 
tiring devotion to his country's welfare. It was an 
hour of well earned triumph, mingled, doubtless, with a 
deep sense of the weighty responsibilities he was soon 
to assume, and with many anxieties and fears. It is 
passed away, and now, where is he? Beyond the reach 
of worldly care and trouble, insensible to human praise 
and censure, a tenant of the tomb. He who had 
braved the dangers of many a sanguinary conflict, and 

• Pbefidekt IlAnniBON attended divine service in Trinity Church, on the 
iU\ Sunday after F]|)ii>hnny, Jan. 31st, 184]. On this occasion, tlie singular 
BIiprojiriuttntHs to Jiis nitualioii of the staled collect, and cpitille for the day, 

particularly tlic latter, from Romans, chap. 13:1 — 7, was noticed as ii rcniark- 

'iblc coincidence. 



u 

ill hrtttli^ with savage aixl (Mvili/ed tin.-, \md escaped 
again and again nnscatli(;d, liatli descended to liis grave 
in a ripe old age, with all a wamor's fame and glory, 
but without a warrior's ordinary fate. With an "eye un- 
dimnied, and natural strength unabated," he gave pro- 
mise of many years of usefulness in the exalted station 
which he adorned, liut in an unexpected moment, his 
hale and vigorous frame, which had endured so many 
hardships and privations, and surmounted them all, 
yielded to Ihe ravages of a violent disease, sudden in 
its incursion, and rapid in its progress; and breathing 
out aspirations for his country's welfare, and express- 
ing his earnest desire that the principles of that Consti- 
tution which he had so recently sworn to defend, might 
be carried out in their integrity, according to his own in- 
tention and purpose, he sank without a struggle into liie 
embrace of death. His last hour was serene and tran- 
quil. He descended to the tomb, as the sun descends 
in a bright and beauteous summer's evening, after a 
tempestuous day, leaving a golden radiance of exr 
emplary virtue and devoted patriotism behind him as 
he set, and lighting up and softening the angry clouds 
as they rolled away, with the brilliant hues of chris- 
tian fortitude and resignation. He died, (so his clerical 
attendant testifies,) as a good man dies; his final mo- 
ments cheered and sustained by the consolations of that 
religion, for which, in his inaugural address, he had with 
deep emotion, and impressive solemnity, expressed his 
"profound reverence." His faith and hope were firmly 
fixed on that divine Savior, to whom he had Ipng since 
consecrated his affections, and devoted his life; and his 
immortal part, we are warrnnted in trusting, "delivered 



12 

from the Ijunloii ol" the flesh, is in joy aiul (ehciiy," in 
the repose of paradise, there awaiting, with the congre- 
gated host of the saved, the resurrection of the just, 
and that "perfect consummation and bhss, both in body 
and soul," which is promised to those who die in the 
Lord, "in tiie eternal and everlasting glory" of the 
kingdom of our God. 

The constitutional successor of our deceased chief 
magistrate, with a promptitude which reflects credit on 
his sensibilities as a man and a christian, and on his 
character and station as the representative head of the 
nation, has recommended the observance of this day, 
as a day of humiliation and prayer throughout the 
length and breadth of our afflicted land; and in fitting 
and appropriate language, invites the people of these 
United States to mourn — not for him, who, in the in- 
scrutable dispensation of Providence, has been taken 
away — but for themselves and their country. It is a 
wise, appropriate and virtuous recommendation, sig- 
nally called for, and judiciously timed; and I trust is 
meeting at this hour from the great body of our feflow- 
citizcns, as I am gratified to find it is in this city,* a 
correspondent response. It much becomes us as a na- 
tion to "consider our ways" — to ponder our causes of 
oflence towards the great and glorious Sovereign of the 
universe — to regard this afllicting dispensation as an in- 
dication of the divine displeasure, and humble ourselves 
uiidrr th(; mighty hand of C«od, and acknowledging 
and conf(\ssing our manifold transgressions, deprecate 
with p( iiilent and contrite hearts, the severity of his 

• Tlio National Fast was particularly well observed liy tlie citizens of Pitts- 
burgh: the places of busincsH were all closed, and llic clmrches were crowded. 



13 

merited indignation, and implore his morey and forgive- 
ness, his continued grace and protection. 

The exemplary virtues of our deceased President, 
his high and honorable character, his stern and inflexi- 
ble integrity, and his eminent public services, (were this 
the time and place for eulogium,) would be fitting sub- 
jects for commendation. But the purpose of our as- 
sembling to-day, is not to eulogize a fellow-man, how- 
ever deserving, but to humble ourselves as a nation be- 
fore a justly offended God. The lamented death of the 
departed patriot, furnishes the occasion for this solem- 
nity, not the tlieme^ by which it is to be improved. 
Your preacher feels that he has a higher duty to dis- 
charge, a duty more consonant with the responsibili- 
ties of his sacred office, and, in his judgment, more 
strictly accordant both with the letter and the spirit 
of the official recommendation, which has called us 
together. And the appropriate subject of discourse, 
appears to him to be, not the illustrious individual, 
whose premature decease we lament, but the causes 
existing among us, which, without incurring the im- 
putation of presumptuously prying into the secret coun- 
sels of the Almighty, we may adduce, and bring home 
to ourselves individually and collectively, for the se- 
vere national chastisement, with which we are visit- 
ed, together with the urgent obligations growing out of 
such chastisement. 

With this view of the course which it becomes me 
to pursue on the present occasion, I have selected, as 
affording appropriate and profitable topics of consider- 
ation, the following words of Jeremiah, recorded in 
the second chapter of his Prophecy, at the 13th verse: 



14 

^"My pcopit liavt comniitted two ivils'. ihcij liacc 
forsaken ME, the fountain of licing icalers, and 
hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can 
hold no neater,'''' 

These words are an authoritative coiidetnnaiion of 
tlie Israehtes for their national sins. Their great and 
prevalent offence was idolatry. For this- they were 
visited with repeated judgments from God, with a view 
to reclaim them from their wilful rebellion awiinst his 
authority, and their shameful forgetfulness of his mer- 
cies. At one time pestilence was permitted to stalk 
through the land, sweeping away the guilty inhnhilants 
as with the '•^hesom of destruction.'''' At another, war, 
with its attendant evils, devastated their country, and 
brought desolation and woe to every door and' every 
bosom. And at another, both these terrible instruments 
of divine wrath combined, were employed against a 
perverse nation, teaching tliem in language of awful 
import, that "verily there is a God who judgest the 
earth." Still they transgressed, and seemingly bade 
defiance to Onmipotence, setting up "their graven im- 
ages on every high hill, and under every green tree," 
or worshipping the idols of the surrounding heathen. 

This propensity to idolatry on the part of a people so 
peculiarly circumstanced as were the ancient Jews, 
and so pre-eminently favored with the light of a divine 
revelation, when all the nations of the earth besides 
were covered with one dense cloud of moral darkness, 
is one of those perversities of the human heart, for 
which it is diflicult lo conceive and assign an adeipiate 
moiivc. In an age so fruitful in examples of every kind 
and son <»! evil, their conduct in this particular stood 



alone. It was a perfect anomaly. The heallieii, by 
whom they were surrounded, adhered with singular per- 
tinacity of devotion, to their national deities. Change of 
rehgion, sucli as their'' s was, was by them never dream- 
ed of The thought was never for a moment entertain- 
ed; and the attempt would have called forth instant 
and universal execration. But the Jews, amid the 
fullest and clearest proofs of the existence and power of 
the Almighty; with an express revelation of his will, at- 
tested by undoubted and stupendous miracles; and with 
reiterated experience of his goodness on the one hand, 
and of the certainty and tcrriblcness of his wrath on 
the other; the Jews, by a most unaccountable infatua- 
tion, were continually prone to abandon the great and 
glorious object of their national worship, repeatedly 
turned recreant to the faith of their fathers, and forsak- 
ing the living and true God, bowed down before the 
senseless idols of the surrounding nations. And not 
content with worshipping the "host of heaven," and 
adoring "stocks and stones, graven by art and man's 
device," they exalted them to a level with the great Je- 
hovah, put their trust in them, and actually looked to 
them with confidence for deliverance from those very 
judgments, which so surely demonstrated his existence 
and pavver, and which were sent expressly to rebuke and 
punish their impious and revolting idolatry. 

This strange perversity of heart, — this singular infat- 
uation, with its astounding character, its folly and its 
guilt, — llie prophet, speaking in the person and by the 
authority of the Almighty, sets forth in terms of min- 
gled reproof and compassion, in the text and context. 
" Wherefore, taidi he, alter having adverted to the 



16 

manifold instances of the divine goodness, whicii they, 
as a nation, had experienced, and their most ungrateful 
requital of the same — '''•Wherefore^ I will plead with 
yo2i, saith the Lord, and with your children's child- 
ren will I plead. For pass over the isles of Chittim, 
and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider dili- 
gently, and see if there he such a thing. Hath a 
nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? 
But my people have changed their glory for that 
ichich doth not profit. JBe astonished, O ye heavens! 
at this, and he horribly afraid, be ye very desolate^ 
saith the Lord. For my people have committed two 
evils; they have forsaken ME, the fountain of liv- 
ing waters; and hewed them out cisterns, broken 
cisterns, that can hold no water.'''' 

IMy brethren, the conduct of the ancient people of 
God, which is liere described and rebuked, affords but 
too faithful a representation of the prevalent disposition 
and conduct of multitudes at the present day. The 
sun of rightcouness has indeed, in our case, dispelled 
the gloom of actual idolatry. We are not the blind, 
deluded, pitiable worshippers of stocks and stones; but 
amid the effulgence of light which shines on us from 
heaven, a mist of thick darkness still overspreads the 
minds of multitudes in this favored land, and is. cher- 
ished and loved, and preferred before the purifying ra- 
diance of evangelical truth. There is an IDOLATRY of 
the iiiiART and its affections, extensively and alarm- 
ingly prevailing. And this, drawing us off from the God 
of our fathers, indisposing us to his service, and keeping 
us estranged and rebellious, is as insulting and offen- 
sive to th( glorious JMajcsly ol" lieavisn and earth, — as 



17 

heinous in its nature, as deep and danuiujo m its guili, 
and as fatal in its consecjuonces, as the most degrading 
and revolting worship of graven images, with its kin- 
dred abominations. And this species of idolatry, this 
constructive idolatry, if I may so speak, is prevalent to 
a degree which causes the christian philanthropist to 
tremble for his fellow man, and for the country in 
which he lives. This criminal infatuation is slartlins 
and alarming; and with bitter anguish of heart he con- 
templates its progress, beholds its pernicious influence, 
and anticipates its certain and fearful results. "Evil, be 
thou my good," is the practical language of multitudes 
who dwell in this enlightened and christian land ; who 
possess the revelation of Jesus Christ, bear by baptism 
the christian name, and participate in all their fulness 
and excellency, the conditional privileges of the cove- 
nant of grace. And the words of the text afl^brd a 
graphic representation of the spirit and conduct of such 
offenders, and describe with accuracy and fidelity their 
moral turpitude. For in reference to their mental per- 
versity, the alienation of their hearts from God, their ex- 
clusive devotion to worthless, and oftentimes criminal 
objects of pursuit and enjoyment, their proud and pre- 
sumptuous self-dependence, and the refuges of lies to 
which they resort to secure them from the disastrous 
consequences of their unbelief and impiety, and from 
the wrath of an incensed and insulted God and Savior; 
awful apprehensions of which their consciences contin- 
ually force upon them, it may with truth and emphasis 
be said, ''My people have committed two evils: they 
have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters; 

:3 



18 

and have hewn them out cisterns, broken cisterns^ 
that can hold 7io water." 

And my brethren, if this be true of individuals — and 
that it is true, does not conscience even now proclaim 
to some among ourselves — may it not with equal truth 
be spoken of us collectively, as a nation? Let us see 
if this portrait does not meet with a resemblance in the 
prevalent vices and the alarming irreligion of our age 
and nation. Let us revie\y the past, and contemplate 
the present moral condition of our common country, 
and the conduct of its inhabitants, and say, if the lan- 
guage of the prophet is not singularly appropriate in its 
application to ourselves, and if an affecting and lament- 
able parallel is not to be found between us and that 
ancient people of God, whom he so severely condemns 
and reproves. 

From its very start, — from the eventful hour when 
the former colonies of Great Britain rose up in their 
might and majesty in righteous resistance of their po- 
litical oppressors, and declared themselves to be free 
and independent, — this nation has been signally ^favor- 
ed of the Lord," Instances of the gracious interposition 
of Almighty God in our behalf, are inscribed on almost 
every page of our national history. Such interposition 
was again and again manifested, and that in the most 
striking and impressive manner, during the war of the 
Revolution; and again and again was it acknowledged 
in the official communications of the great and good 
man, who led our armies; and responded to by his 
illustrious compatriots, composing the continental Con- 



19 

gress, in their public acts.* It is unnecessary to par- 
ticularize: tfic proofs are familiar to every one conver- 
sant with the history of that great national conflict, and 
are enduring inetnentos of our indebtedness as a people 
to a beneficent and overruling Providence, for aid and 
direction in its progress, and for its successful and glo- 
rious termination. 

* That august assembly, at an early period, formally and solemnly recog- 
nized its dependence on tliat Omnipotent Being, who controls the destinies of 
nations, as well as of individuals, in the appointment of Chaplains, to open its 
daily session with prayer. One of the Reverend Gentlemen chosen to this 
office, was our late venerated Diocessan, the Rt. Rev. William White, D. D. 
"clarum et venerabilc nomcn," — then an assistant minister, and very soon 
after, the Rector of tlie united parishes of Christ Church, and St. Peter's, 
Philadelphia. At the commencement of the dispute between the mother coun- 
try and her colonies, after mature deliberation he took side with the latter, and 
adhered to it with characteristic consistency and integrity. His sentiments 
'and actions in connection with this matter, while they bespeak his pure and 
disinterested patriotism, afford the best answer to the opprobrium which was 
then, and by the ignorant and prejudiced is even now, unjustly cast upon that 
branch of the Church Catholic which he so long and faithfully served, and pre- 
eminently adorned — that of being in its organization and its spirit, uncongenial 
to a Republican form of government; and from its supposed, but unfounded 
identification in interest and feeling, with the Church of England, whence it 
was derived, and with the State, with which that Church is so intimately con- 
nected by the Constitution of tlie Realm and the Legislation of Parliament: 
inimical to our political institutions, and dangerous to our liberties. They are 
thus related by his biographer, and they deserve all the publicilj' that can be 
given to them: 

"Mr. White, carefully and fully reflected upon the principles involved in thai 
great contest — (tlic troubles between Great Britain and her colonies.) To such 
reflection, he felt himself bound by a strong sense of dutj' as a free subject, a 
christian, and a minister of the Gospel; and in the last character, on account 
more especially, of his connection with the Church of England. His talents 
and sound judgment, united with extensive information, well qualified him for 
an examination of the dispute. He had, long before that period, carefully- 
studied the English history, and the principles of the English Constitution; and 
his reading on these subjects had boon r-onsiderable. The result of his careful 
reflection was, a decided opinion in favor of the claims of the colonies, to which 
he adhered, and in which" he uniformly and consistently acted during the whole 



And, my brolhron. ilie same divine interposition, 
which was so frcciuenlly and so especially manifested 
during the struggle for national independence, was 
equally conspicuous after that independence was ac- 
knowledged by the parent country, and our new-born 
Republic assumed a place among the nations. Amid 

contest. His account of the course adopted by him, and of the motives whicli 
led to it, is too interesting not to be given in his ovpn language: 

" 'Tlic principles which I liad adopted,' says he, 'are those which enter into 
the Constitution of England, from tiie Saxon times, however the fact may have 
been disputed by Mr. Hume; and even confirmed and acted on at the revolu- 
tion in 1688. The late measures of the English government contradicted the 
rights which the colonists l.ad brought witli tlicni to tlie wilds of America, and 
which were until then respected by tlie motlicr country. The worst state of 
dependent provinces has been that which bound them to a country itself free. 
This is a fact sufficiently illustrated in the case of those of Rome, which were 
more miserable under the Republic tlian under the Emperors, monsters as most 
of them were. Our quarrel was, substantially, with our free fellow-subjects of* 
(Jrcat Britain; and we never objected to the constitutional prerogatives of the 
Crown, until it threw us out of its protection. This it did, independently of 
other measures, by wliat was called the Prohibitory Act, passed in November, 
1775, authorizing the seizure of all vessels belonging to persons of this country, 
whether friends or foes. The act arrived about the time of the publication of 
Faine's 'Common Sense.' Had the act been contrived by some person in 
league with Paine, in order to give effect to his production, no expedient could 
have been more ingenious. To a reader of that flimsy work, at tlio present 
day, the confessed efi'cct of it at the time, is a matter of surprise. Had it issued 
six months sooner, it would Iiave excited no feeling, except that of resentment 
against the author. But there had come a crisis, which the foremost leaders of 
American resistance were reluctant to realize to their minds. * « * 
« # # «.»*# * * * » * These things 

arc said without disrespect to tlie personal character of llie King of Great 
Britain. He took the part, into which perhaps any m:in would have been be- 
trayed by the same circumstances. You know my construction of the scrip- 
tural prceopts on the subject of obrdiciice to civil rulers. It engaged my most 
serious ronsidrration; and under the sense of my responsibility to Cod, I am 
Htill of opinion, that they respect the ordinary administration of men in power; 
who are not to be resisted from private regards, or for the seeking of changes, 
however i)roinising in theory. In a mixed govrrnnient, the constitutional 
ri(»hl^ of ajiv <>nr br;inrh are as inmh ihc ordinanfc of iioi], as those of any 



W' 



the brilliant success wliicli liad crowned our arms, and 
the triumph and joy which filled every patriot bosom 
at the result, the end of the war was, nevertheless, a 
dark and gloomy hour of our history. The sun of 
liiberty had risen, and was shining in bright and glo- 
rious prospect on the destinies of our country; but its 

other. This view of the subject would be abandoned, if it could be proved to 
be more fruitful of disorder than its opposite. The latter is rather the cause of 
civil war, as in the rebellions of 1715 and '45. To talk of hereditary right, 
when the question is of the sense of the scriptural precepts, is beside the mark; 
for they look no further than to the present possession of the power. The con- 
trary theory lands us in despotism; and if any should be reconciled to this by 
the notion of its securing of tranquillity, there cannot be a greater mistake. If 
there be no constitutional ciieck, it will be found unconstitutionally, in some 
such shape as that of the praetorian guards of Rome, or of the janizaries of 
Turkey, or of the combinations of grandees of Russia. 

" 'However satisfactory this train of sentiment, at the crisis referred to, the 
question of expediency was problematical, considering the immense power of 
the mother country. Perhaps, had the issue depended on my determination, it 
would have been for submission, with the determined and steady continuance 
of rightful claim. But when my countrymen in general had chosen the dread- 
ful measure of forcible resistance — for certainly the spirit was almost universal 
at the time of arming — it was the dictate of conscience to take what seemed 
the right side. When matters were verging to independence, there was less to 
be said for dissent from tlic voice of the country, than in the beginning. Great 
Britain had not relinquished a particle of her claim. The commissioners did not 
pretend to any power of this sort from the Crown; and had they pretended to it, 
tljere was no power in the Crown to suspend acts of Parliament, or to promise 
the repeal of them. On this ground, it must be perceived that the least defen- 
sible persons were they who gave their services to the engaging in the war, and 
Acn abandoned the cause. 

»******»* "'Although possessed of 
these sentiments, I never beat the ecclesiastical drum. My two brethren in 
the assistant ministry preached animating sermons, approbatory of the war, 
which were printed — as did the most prominent of our clergy. Dr. Smith. Our 
aged Rector, in consequence of increasing weakness, was retiring from the 
world. Not long before this time, he resigned his Rectorship, was succeeded 
by Mr. Duche, and soon after died. Being invited to preach before a battalion, 
I declined; and mentioned to the Colonel, who was one of the warmest spirits 
of the day, my objection to the making of the ministry instrumental to the war. 
I continued, as did ail of us, to pray for the King, initil Simdny (inclusively) 



beams were intercepted by mists and clouds, wliich 
tlirew at times a cliill over the most sanguine heart. 
The emancipation of the people was accomphshed, 
freedom was acliieved, the chains of pohtical servitude 

before the 4th of July, 1776. AVithin a short time after, I took the oath of alle- 
giance to the United States, and have since remained faitliful to it. My inten- 
tions were upright, and most seriously weighed. I hope they were not in con- 
trariety to my duty.' 

"At the time of I\Ir. White's taking the oath of allegiance, as above mention- 
ed," continues his biographer, "tlie following incident is said to have occurred: 
When he went to the court-house for the purpose, a gentleman of his acquaint- 
ance, observing his design, intimated to him, by a gesture, the danger to which 
he would expose himself. After having taken the outli, he remarked, before 
leaving the court-house, to the gentleman alluded to — 'I perceive, by your ges- 
ture, that you thought I was exposing my neck to great danger by the step 
which I have taken. But I have not taken it without full deliberation. I know 
my danger, and that it is greater on account of my being a clergyman of the 
Church of England. But I trust in Providence. The cause is a just one, and, 
I am persuaded, will be protected.' 

"In September, 1777, Mr. White retired with his family to the house of his 
brother-in-law, Mr. Aquilla Hall, in Hartford county, Maryland. The British 
army was then advancing to Philadelphia, of which they took possession soon 
afterwards. 'At this eventful crisis,' he says, 'I received notice that Congress. 
who had fled to Yorktown, (borough of York, Pa.) had chosen me their Chap- 
lain. They chose with mc, the Rev. Mr. Duffield, of tlic Presbyterian com- 
munion. Nothing could have induced me to accept the appointment at such a 
time, even had the emolument been an object, vvhich it was not, but the determi- 
nation to be consistent in my principles, and in the part taken. Under this im- 
pression, I divided my time between Congress and my family, which the double 
chaplainship permitted, until the evacuation of the city in the June following. 
My acceptance of the chaplainship was a few days before the arrival of the in- 
telligence of the capture of General Burgoyne; which tended to a revival from 
the general depression occasioned by the capture of Pluladclphia, and by the 
advance of an army on the frontier of New York, the success of which, would 
have severed the Eastern States from the Southern.' 

"He continued Chaplain until tlirit body removed to New York. When, after 
the adoption of the exi.sting C'oiistiliition, the Congress of the United States re- 
turned to Philadelphia, he was again chosen one of their Chaplains, and con 
tinued to be bo chosen at each successive Congress, by the Senate, until the re- 
moval of the seat of government to Washington, in the yc;ir 1801." — Memoir 
of the Life of Bishop While, by the Rev. Bird Wilson, D. D. pp. 46, 47, 48, 49, 
50, 51— .'54, .''i.'i. 56. 



23 

were broken; but the goveriiineiit of the country was 
inchoative and unsettled. With many, the stabihty of 
cur national independence was exceedingly proble- 
matical. Our legislative councils were alarmingly 
divided; and so was public sentiment. All was per- 
plexity and dismay within, and distrust and alarm 
without. At home, there were anxieties and fears ; and 
abroad, on the part of our allies, serious misgivings; 
and on that of our late formidable enemy, anticipated 
disaster and ruin. At this truly eventful period, there 
was a manifest interposition of the sovereign Disposer 
of events, in behalf of this republic. After several 
years of agitation, of protracted and painful discussion, 
and after many conflicting devices had been proposed 
and rejected, a Convention of Delegates from the 
several States of the Confederacy was determined on 
by the general Congress, and assented to by the res- 
pective State Legislatures. The Delegates were 
chosen. They assembled in Convention, in the City 
of Philadelphia, on the 14th of May, 1787, and soon 
after organized, by the very appropriate and judicious 
selection of the illustrious Washington to preside over 
their deliberations. They consulted long and carefully 
on the condition of the country, its wants, and their 
remedy; but for a time with little effect: for there 
were many conflicting interests to reconcile, and sec- 
tional partialities and prejudices to be conciliated, and 
vague theories and Utopian schemes, urged with the 
wonted pertinacity of political projectors, to be exposed 
and overthrown. These all' served to retard action, 
and produce perplexity and delay. It was at this stage 
of their deliberations, that a venerable Delegate from 



24 

Pennsylvania, distinguished no less for philosophical 
atlaininciits and profound wisdom, tlian for his private 
virtues as a man, and his unbending integrity and in- 
corruptible patriotism as a statesman, proposed the 
daily invocation of that great and glorious Being, who 
had so signally befriended the country during the 
recent revolutionary struggle, but whose sovereign 
agency the Convention had hitherto apparently for- 
gotten.* The proposition was warmly advocated by 

* The venerable delegate was the celebrated philosoplier and statesman, 
Benjamin Franklin, L. L. D. who had rendered such essential services to his 
country, from the commencement to the termination of the revolutionary con. 
test, particularly as a negotiator abroad, and who, on his recent return from 
the court of France, was summoned by a constituency which knew and esti- 
mated his worth, almost by acclamation, to this eventful council; a summons 
which, notwithstanding his advanced age, and increasing infirmities, with his 
wonted patriotism he promptly obeyed; and his proposal to have the daily busi- 
ness of the Convention opened by prayer, with the remarks with which he 
endeavored to recommend it, are alike creditable to his head and to his heart, 
and deserve to be remembered by his countrymen. 

On Thursday, the 28th of June, 1787, when the Convention had been in 
session upwards of a month, and had made very little advance in the work 
committed to it, Dr. Franklin, (says Mr. Madison, in his record of the debates 
and proceedings of the Convention, lately published,) addressed the chair, and 
said — "Mr. President, the small progress we have made, after four or five weeks 
close attendance and continual reasonings with each other — our different senti- 
ments on almost every question — several of the last producing as many noes as 
ayes — is, methinks, a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the human 
understanding. We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, 
fiince we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to 
ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of 
those republics which, having been foimed with the seeds of tlieir own dissolu- 
tion, now no longer exist. And we have viewed modern states all round 
Europe, but find none of their constitutions suitable to our circumstances. 

" In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find 
political trutii, and scarce able to distinguisli it when presented to us, how has 
it liappcncd, Sir, that we have not hillicrto once thought of applying to the 
Father of liglils to illuminate our understandings. In the beginning of the con- 
tout with Great Britain, when wc were sensible of danger, wo had daily prayer 
in this room for (he Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and 



Several members, (tor a sense of religious obligation 
was not then extinct in the breasts of our legislators, 

graciously answered. All of ua who were engaged in the struggle, must have 
observed frequent instances of a eupcrinlending Providence in our favor. To 
that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on 
the means of establishing our future naliorTal felicity. And have wc now for- 
gotten that powerful Friend? Or, do wc imagine that wo no longer need hi» 
assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more con- 
vincing proofs I see of this truth, — that God governs in the affairs of men. 
And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable 
that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured. Sir, in the 
sacred writings, that ^Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who 
bMild if.' I firmly believe this; and I also believe, that without his concurring 
aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of 
Babel. We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects 
will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become, a reproach and by-word 
down to future ages; and what is more, mankind may hereafter, from this un- 
fortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom, and 
lea.ve it to chance, war, and conquest. 

" I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth prayers, imploring the as- 
sistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this 
assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more 
of the clergy of this city be requested to otficiute iri that service." 
" Mr. Sherman seconded the motion. 

" Mr. Hamilton, and several others, expressed their apprehensions, that how- 
ever proper such a resolution might have been at the beginning of the Con- 
vention, it might at this late day, in the first place, bring on it some disagreeable 
animadversions; and in the second, lead the public to believe that the embar- 
rassments and dissensions within the Convention had suggested the measure. 
It was answered by Dr. Franklin, Mr. Sherman and others, that the past omis- 
sion of a duty cculd not justify a furtlier omission; that the rejection of such 
a proposition would expose the Convention to more unpleasant animadversions 
than the adoption of it; and that the alarm out of doors that might be excited 
for the state of things within, would at least be as likely to do good as ill. 

" Mr. Williamson observed, that the true cause of the omission could not be 
mistaken. The Convention had no funds. 

"Mr. Randolph proposed, in order to give a favorable aspect to the measure, 
that a sermon be preached, at the request of the Convention, on the 4th of July, 
the Anniversary of Independence, and that thenceforward prayers, &.c. be 
read in the Convention every morning. Dr. Franklin seconded this motion. 
After several unsuccessful attempts for silently postponing this matter by ad- 
journing, the adjournment was at length carried without any vote on the mo- 
tion." — Madison Papers, vol. '2d, pp. 98 1, '85, '86. 
1 



2(5 

but only slumbered,) and though the measure was not 
adopted, they who opposed it, appear to have done so, 
as much from chagrin and mortification at their pre- 
vious negligence, as .from any real and serious objec- 
tion to a proposal so obviously proper, and so urgently 
required. This seems to be indicated by the reasons 
adduced against it, and by the fact, that it was not for- 
mally rejected, but evaded by a motion to adjourn. 

The very proposition itself, however, with the im- 
pressive remarks with which it was enforced by the 
mover, was propitiatory in its tendency, and exerted a 
salutary influence on the subsequent deliberations of 
the Convention. God was acknowledged, if not espe- 
cially and officially sought and enquired after; and 
soon the consultations of these illustrious men resulted 
in devising and recommending the Federal Constitu- 
tion; the wise, efficient, and well working system of 
sovernment, under which we have since lived and 
prospered, and in the space of little more than half a 
century, have grown up a wide-spread and mighty 
empire. 

This measure, apd its adoption by a majority of the 

States of the Confederacy, was evidently the result of 
an overruling Providence; .and its effects were at once 
benign and salutary. It was the breaking forth of the 
sun from amid the mists and clouds which obscured its 
brightness, and intercepted its vivifying beams. Dis- 
pelling the portentous signs of apjuoaching storm, it 
irradiated our political horizon with cheering and glo- 
rious light; and (taused the newly {>Iantcd Republic to 
shoot up from its temjjorary depression, and its threat- 
ening decay, with vigorous growth and animating pro- 
mise. It met the pressing exigencies of the country, 



*i7 

and provided an etticient remedy tor the disease iliat 
was sapping the very vitals of our liberties; and arrest- 
ed at once the ruin that appeared impending. Our 
hard earned freedom was established by it, on a solid 
and substantial basis. A national character was cre- 
ated, and a national spirit infused into the people of 
the several States, concentrating their patriotic ener- 
gies, and making them in reality, what the motto of 
the Republic held out in promise, — e pluribus unum. 
It secured union, tranquillity, prosperity at home, and 
respect, credit, and confidence abroad. 

And, my brethren, the great CAUSE of this happy 
extrication from difficulty and danger, was recognized 
by, and His over-ruling influence deeply engraven on 
the hearts of the whole American people, at the time. 
This evident interposition of Divine Providence elicited 
their public and grateful acknowledgments. God was 
honored as the source of this inestimable blessing; and 
special praise was offered to Him, for having inspired 
the Convention, from which so much was expected, 
and towards whicli all eyes were turned with such 
deep solicitude, with wisdom and prudence and justice; 
for having infused a spirit of conciliation and mutual 
concession into its deliberations, and for having so re- 
markably controlled and harmonized the conflicting 
opinions and prejudices of its members, and induced 
the noble sacrifice of sectional rnterests and partialities 
on the altar of the general public good. The oil that 
was poured out on the troubled waters, and calmed and 
iranquilized the threatening billows, was clearly dis- 
cerned as descending from Ilim, who alone has power 
to say to the political and moral, as well as to tlie natu- 



38 

ral ocean, when its waves run higli, and rage and roar 
in the fury of the storm, — ^'•Peace; he stilV 

Ant], my brethren, at a later period also in our brief 
national history, when darkness overspread our politi- 
cal horizon, and a tempest ol' no litde severity burst 
upon our beloved country; at a later period, fresh in 
the memory of most o^ us, when the hoarse clarion of 
war sounded its notes of alarm and preparation, and 
summoned the brave and the free to defend their na- 
tional rights, violated by repeated aggressions on the 
part of our ancient enemy, from our peaceful policy, 
and our supposed feebleness, grown wanton in outrage 
and insult; — in that gloomy hour, when a sense of na- 
tional wrongs warmed every patriotic bosom to resist- 
ance and defence, did God again interpose in our be- 
half—throw around us the shield of his protection — 
stretch forth his sustainiijg arm — bring us with honor 
out of a contest fearfully unequal, and restore to our 
borders the blessings of peace. And then, too, there 
was a public national acknowledgment of Him, who 
had proved himself to be "a strong tower of defence 
against the face of our enemies," appointed by the 
Chief Magistrate of the Union, and responded to by 
the constituted authorities of the several States; and 
the hearts of all were bowed, as the heart of one man, 
before a Throne of grace, in grateful recognition of the 
divine goodness, and pagans of thanksgiving ascended, 
throughout the length and breadth of the rejoicing land, 
to God, "the Supreme Governor of all things," "our 
Savior and mighty Deliverer." 

But, my brethren, ntnid a long interval of tranquillity 
and prosporirv. ''the heart of the people has waxed 



29 

^ro5S," — has been lifted up witli pridt; and presutnp- 
tuous self-dependence; and God has been, not measu- 
rably^ but alas! immeasurably forgotten and forsaken! 
Religion, it is true, has not in all its features been ob- 
literated in our national proceedings. In our official 
and judicial oaths, and in our forms of legal procedure, 
there are traces of religious principle, little adverted to, 
but permanently fixed by common consent; and a 
formal recognition of a supre3Ie deity — an appeal 
being made in the one case to his omniscience and re- 
tributive justice; and the injunctions of our writs, in 
the other, running in the name of the people of the 
State, or of the United States, by '■'•the grace of God., 
free and independent In our national Legislature, 
also, and in those of some of the States, the business of 
the day is opened with prayer by clergymen chosen to 
perform that duty. In some of the States of this Union, 
too, (not more though, with shame and sorrow be it 
spoken, than about one-third of the whole number,) 
the time-honored custom of an annual Thanksgiving 
"to Almighty God, for the fruits of the earth, and all 
the other blessings of his merciful providence,"* is 
authoritatively proclaimed and recommended by the 
Executive. And in some of the annual messages of 
our Rulers to the respective Legislatures of the coun- 
try, there is found a faint and formal recognition of the 
Supreme Being; and an allusion, as brief and cold as 
may be, to his continued goodness and our indebted- 

* Book of Common Prayer, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, — which 
observes the first Thursday in November, yearly, as a day of Thanksgiving 
for the bounties of a beneficent Prcvidence, unless some other day is ap- 
pointed by the civil authority of a State, or of the United States, and then 
observes that day. 



30 

ness. For, t'requoiuly, tlie sentiment appears to have 
been uttered, as if it was something to be ashamed of; 
and an air of constraint is apparent in the phraseology, 
as if it was something which custom demanded, and 
the omission of which, might perhaps endanger the 
popularity of its author with a certain portion of the 
community; while at the same time, the expression of 
the sentiment might offend a certain other portion, — 
which, alas! for the character and safety of our coun- 
try! has of late years exercised no little influence in 
our political affairs, and over our candidates for popu- 
lar favor, — a class who openly ridicule and repudiate 
God and Christ, blaspheme and insult his holy name, 
laugh to scorn the religion of the cross, and all reli- 
gion, and glory in their shame. 

With the exceptions before mentioned, my brethren, 
the fact is not to be concealed — and it is stated without 
any reference to individuals, or to political parties and 
opinions, as the result of painful observation of public 
men and their proceedings, the expression of which, 
1 should be unfaithful to my trust, as a minister 
of Jesus Christ, to withhold from you, the people of 
my charge; — with these exceptions, alas! God has 
been forgotten and forsaken by those who control, our 
public affairs — his agency in government unacknowl- 
edged — his fqrmer and continued mercies disregarded ; 
and dependence on Him, who controls the destinies of 
nations, and from whonj, all wise and wholesome coun- 
sels do proceed, and national blessings and national 
judgments come, practically thrown off. What wonder 
then, that our unoxam|)lod prosperity as a people has 
received a check' that coMMncrcial derangements and 



3! 

mercaiUile embanassments exist! tliat there is distress 
and suffering in the land! and that portentous clouds 
again hover over our political horizon, and threaten 
our national repose! 

And forgotten and forsaken, as God has been by our 
Rulers^ how is it with those whom they rule? My 
brethren, the answer is alarming! With truth and em- 
phasis, and by every well wisher to his country's wel- 
fare, and every christian believer, with sorrow of heart 
must it be pronounced, as of Israel of old, — "il% pf^o- 
ple have forsaken Me, the fountain of living wa- 
ters!'''' Are proofs demanded? Are instances, exam- 
ples, illustrations required? You have them, my breth- 
ren, in tlie practical irreligioii of the day — in fhe preva- 
lence of avowed and undisguised infidelity, and in the 
unblusiiing profligacy and the gross and revolting licen- 
tiousness which follow in their train. You may find 
them in the astounding increase of every species of vice 
and immorality; in the unprecedented number and the 
tin'paralleled enormity of the offences against the laws 
both of God and man, with which our newspapers 
teem; in the utter destitution of moral principle and 
common honesty which so extensively prevails, as seen 
in the multiplied and wholesale depredations of men 
previously of character and standing, some of them of 
high moral and religious reputation, occupying respon- 
sible stations, and entrusted with public funds — annun- 
ciations of which come to us on the wings of every 
wind, from the East and the West, the North and the 
South. You may discern them in the wild and reck- 
less spirit of speculation which characterizes so many 
among us, and which has almost grown into a distin- 



3i2 

guishiiig national featunj; in ihe alarming increase of 
pomp and display, and costly and luxurious living; in 
a mournful and wide departure from our former repub- 
lican simplicity of manners and habits; in the aping of 
the expensive follies of tiie higher classes of European 
society; in the importation of the worst and most de- 
basing amusements of the old world, and in the enor- 
mous expenditure lavished on histrionic adventurers — - 
on singers and fiddlers and lascivious dancing girls, of 
the capitals of the old world, corrupt to the very core. 
You may discover ihem, in the increasing indifference, 
particularly in our large cities, to the sanctity of the 
Lord's day, and in the open and offensive violation of 
its salutary and divinely enjoined observance; in the 
revolting profanity which breaks upon the ear, in our 
streets and public places, from men, and fathers of 
families, and youth — yea, from the lips of prattling in- 
fancy, and — O! most pitiable and alarming — oftentimes 
from the mouths of the old and gray-headed, tottering 
on the verge of tire grave; in the spread and preva- 
lence of soul-destroying intemperance, and in the vari- 
ous associations which tempt to and cherish that bane 
of public morals and happiness, that unalloyed curse of 
the poor man's home, that cruel tyrant of the rich man's 
domestic circle. You may find them in the corrupt and 
vitiated taste which patronizes a profligate, demoraliz- 
ing and obscene press; which supports those foul and 
loathsome newspapers which of late years have sprung 
up in most of our largo cities, and which are not only 
tolerated, but encouraged, at the expense of all that is 
decent iind pure and moral, in manners, in habits, in 
mind, — publications which pander to the vilest propen- 



33 

sitiesof the lieart, ami are the iVuitfiil and fearful incen- 
tives to vice and crime among our youth, and even 
manhood — whose atrocious libels on all that is upright 
and honorable and good — wiiose scurrilloiis assaults 
on character — whose unblushing infidelity — whose dis- 
gusting details of oflences and scenes, which it is con- 
taminating to think of, much less to name, are the pass- 
ports to their circulation — and alas! for the interests of 
pubHc morals, and the purity of our youth of both 
sexes, vvhich not only obtain circulation by means of 
the cupidity of their publishers, but are subscribed for, 
purchased, read, by persons who call themselves res- 
pectable, and introduced into their counting houses, 
and places of business, and their domestic circles, with 
an avidity and a recklessness of consequences, evincing 
not only a most degrading vitiation of taste, but an 
alarming corruption of heart. 

Time would fail, my brethren, to adduce all the 
proofs and all the instances that exist among us, that 
as a people we have forsaken and are forsaldng the 
FOUNTAIN or LIVING WATERS, the God of our fathers; 
and that our national sins have multiplied and are mul- 
tiplying to a fearful extent. This lamentable change in 
the tone and character of our public morals, is most 
conspicuous, glaring and offensive, in our large cities, 
especially our commercied ports. But alas! this ma- 
lign influence, this devastating moral pestilence, is not 
confined to these, proverbially "great public sores." It 
is diffused through the land, and more or less affects 
all classes of society. The contagion has spread, and 
is spreading, and doing its work of death in our remote 
villages and sequestered hamlets. And every where, 
5 



34 

it is a source of unaffected sorrow, oi" deep and bitteif 
lamentation to the christian philanthropist, and indeed 
to every lover of his country; and most importunately 
does it call for national humiliation, and demand that 
we humble ourselves, individually and collectively, be- 
fore a Throne of mercy, and with broken and contrite 
hearts, and with resolutions of reformation and amend- 
ment, deprecate our manifold and grievous offences as 
a people, against the God of providence and the God 

OF GRACE. 

This, however, enormous as it is, is only one of the 
"cm/5," of which God has cause to complain. '■*Mtf 
people have conmiitted two evils: they have forsaken 
me, the fountain of living waters; atid have hewed 
them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no 
ivatery With the Jews, these broken cisterns were 
the idols of "wood and stone, graven by art and man^s 
device," which they perversely worshipped, and on 
which they depended for protection and deliverance. 
And in the application of the complaint to ourselves, 
we may instance the constructive idols on which our 
hearts and affections are concentrated; and pursuing 
which, to the neglect, and oftentimes to an utter forget- 
fulncss of God, we may be said to worship. 

Prominent among these, is money. With thousands, 
It is the god of their adoration, the all-absorbing object 
of their care and pursuit. The love of money is the 
prevalent passion of the age. It is lamentably the en- 
grossing passion and propensity of the nation, of which 
we form a part. Money — not as means of usefulness, 
of fulfilling the divine law, which enjoins us to do good 
and distribute of our competence and our abundance, 
to promote and sustain the cause of Christ hi the world. 



35 

uiui relieve our necessitoin fellow-creatures iu tlieii 
distress — not as enabling us to exercise benevolence 
and practical charity on an extensive scale, and be- 
come public benefactors, as well as the private almon- 
ers of the poor and needy, but as ministering to our 
own selfish indulgence, or as adding to our power and 
influence, or as creating a fancied independence, or as 
gratifying a desire of accumulation, or as meeting a 
craving and sordid avarice — money, for such unworthy 
purposes, and to accomplish such vain and worthless 
ends, is the great and prominent object of the pursuit 
of multitudes among us. So far is this passion for mo- 
ney carried; so exclusively does it occupy attention, 
and concentrate our energies in its acquisition, as al- 
most to warrant the sarcasm of a recent foreign travel- 
ler, which I have somewhere seen, ''Hhat money was 
the single idea of an American; and how it might 
he made, the solitary aim of his ambition.'''' It is in- 
deed the prominent thought of too many among us, — 
the object of an idolatrous devotion. Our conversa- 
tion, for the most part, turns upon it; and go where 
you will, dollars — dollars — grate upon the ear from 
almost every group you meet — the first intelligible 
accents of lisping infancy — the inspiring liieme of 
youthful anticipation — the favorite topic of matured 
manhood — and almost die last lingering aspiration of 
decrepitude and age. And not only is money sought 
for its own sake, and on account of the supposed ad- 
vantages it confers, and the selfish indulgences to 
which it is able to minister; but alas! by many, it is 
made a source of confidence, independent of God ; 
and it is regarded and estimated and pursued, as if ity 



3« 

and it alone, were all that is wanting to secure us from 
calamity, deliver us from affliction, and solace us under 
misfortune. Forgetting the fountain whence riches, 
with all other temporal blessings, flow — and how often 
and how unexpectedly they "teArc to themselves wings 
and flee away,'''' we make them our dependence, our 
hope, our strong confidence; we cling to them for pro- 
tection; we look to them for deliverance; we regard 
them as a sort of panacea for every difficulty ; and thus 
^''hew out for ourselves cisterns, broken cisterns, 
that can hold no water^ What folly, my brethren, 
and what guilt! are involved in the love of money, — 
in this inordinate pursuit of money, — in this presump- 
tuous dependence on money; and that at the expense 
of the God of our salvation, and of our duty as ac- 
countable creatures and redeemed sinners! How can 
we expect the divine blessing on ourselves, and on our 
country, when we are so ^'•wholly given to this de- 
basing idolatry?'''' And when we consider the dis- 
honor done to God, by our dependence on this ^'•broken 
cistern,^'' — by the violations of our duty to him, in our 
eager pursuit of the phantom, must we not fear — have 
we not reason to apprehend — his terrible displeasure; 
-the breaking forth of that fierce and holy jealousy 
with which he regards all things that interfere with the 
love and reverence and adoration due to iiim ; the ful- 
filment of that fearful threatening with which he en- 
forced his express command to his ancient people, — a 
command, in spirit, equally binding on ourselves, — 
"TAoM shalt have none other god besides meP'' 

For several years past, my brethren, our national 
prosperity has been seriously arrested and impaired. 



37 

Commercial embarrassments and difficulties liave mul- 
tiplied; great and general distress has pervaded almost 
all classes of the community, and one universal cry has 
resounded from all quarters of our wide extended 
country, of '7m/YZ times,'''' of losses in business, of fluc- 
tuations in the currency, of depreciation of prices and 
of the value of property, of general stagnation and de- 
rangement of trade, amounting in the aggregate, if half 
only were true, to a general national calamity. And 
in the proposed remedies for existing difficulties, what 
has been the predominant sentiment? Is it creditable 
to our religious sensibilities'? Is it becoming to a (no- 
minally at least) christian nation? Have we thought 
of calling upon God in our distress? On the contrary, 
have we not proposed to ourselves plans of relief, inde- 
pendent of him, and thus '•'-heioed out to ourselves cis- 
terns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water?'''' 

Some have dwelt with great complacency and confi- 
dent anticipation, on the indomitable spirit of enter- 
prise, and the irrepressible industry, so characteristic of 
and so honorable to our countrymen, and which has 
contributed so much to our former prosperity. They 
have relied on these, to bring matters round and turn 
the tide in our favor. But by themselves, without the 
divine blessing, and that blessing sought and secured 
by correspondent piety and virtue, what are they? — of 
what value? They are mere airy imaginings, the 

shadows of a shade, ^'•broken cisterns that can hold 
no watery 

With others, our prolific and varied soil, rich in 

valuable and diversified productions, and teeming with 
the fruits of the earth, afford the ground of their confi- 
dence and hope; as if, independent of that creative 



38 

Power, wlio seiuls "/v///i itpon the earth, and fruitful 
seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness,'' 
tliis would meet our necessities, and remove the evils 
of which we complain. As if this unquestionable ad- 
vantage, this peculiar blessing of the land we inhabit, 
and for which our gratitude and praise are especially 
demanded, to the great and glorious Fountain whence 
it springs; as if this was a certain and uniform depend- 
ence, exposed to no adverse contingencies, and require 
ing of the cultivators of the soil, only to sow the seed, 
and reap the fruits, as a matter of course. As if, my 
brethren, he who ''holds the icaters in the hollow of 
his hand,'' and "-maketh the clouds his chariot," and 
"•rides upon the whirlwind and directs the storm,^' 
might not, in requital of our criminal forgetfulness and 
desertion, descend, as he has often done, and in every 
part of our country, in the overwhelming flood and the 
desolating tornado, and sweep away in a moment, with 
the resistless breath of his displeasure, the -labor of 
months, and all the self-confident expectations founded 
thereon; as if drought, and mildew, and blight, were 
not the instruments of his vengeance, and untimely 

frosts and chilling blasts, the ministers of his righteous 
indignation. 

In the estimation of some, our republican form of 
government, containing within itself a sort of elastic 
principle, remedial and compensatory, has been count- 
ed on for returning prosperity; as if, my brethren, the 
purest form of government, unsustained by the divine 
blessing on its administration, could of itself avert ca- 
lamity from the nation, propitiate the insulted majesty 
of (lod, neglected, forgotten and forsaken by the crea- 
tures of his power, and the favored recipients of his 



39 

providential mercies; shut tlie floodgates of his merited 
wrath, opened on a perverse and ungrateful conunu- 
nity, and bring back upon "« sinful people^ laden with 
iniquity^'''' and upon, the country they inhabit, the full 
tide of its former abused prosperity! 

And not to detain you, my brethren, with additional 
instances, tlie hopes and expectations of a large portion 
of the community were fixed, presumptuously fixed, — 
(the truth must be spoken, and I trust it may be spoken 
without offence, when no offence is intended,) — on the 
late lamented occupant of the Ciiair of State. His ele- 
vation to office, was to cure at once every existing evil, 
and extricate the country from every difficulty, both at 
home and abroad. Confidence would immediately re- 
vive — credit be restored — commerce in all its branches 
be resuscitated — industry and enterprise meet with a 
rich reward — and the security and happiness of the 
people placed on an unshaken foundation. Thus, in 
that spirit of man-worship^ of late years so alarmingly 
prevalent among us, did men speak. Thus did they 
give utterance to their hopes. And all this, irrespective 
of HIM who controls the destinies of nations, and order- 
eth all things after the counsel of his own will. And 
how soon^ and how emphatically^ has this presumptu- 
ous confidence been rebuked, and proclaimed to be, 
with other devices, "« broken cistern^ that can hold 
no water!'''' In the mysterious providence of God, the 
anticipation has been blasted, almost in its very incep- 
tion, and a lesson taught, which I pray may be im- 
pressed on every mind, that vain is all dependence "'on 
man, whose breath is in his nostrils ;" that God is sove- 
reign; that national as well as individual confidence, 



^0 

if not placed on liim, is placed on a foundation of sand, 
and is not only utterly vain and worthless, but criminal 
also, and condemnatory. The lesson has been given 
under deeply afflicting circumstances. A whole people 
have been thrown into mourning by the event. But if 
painful^ it is in its tendencies salutary. It exposes the 
fallacy and the folly of any confidence in '-'■an arm of 
flesh;'''* in any m«/i, however promising in physical 
health and vigor, and however distinguished for talent, 
wisdom, integrity and patriotism. 

And, my brethren, the result has been already salu- 
tary. The whole American people, startled and as- 
tounded at the melancholy tidings, have been led to 
serious reflection ; have had forced on their attention, 
the brevity and uncertainty of life; the vanity and in- 
security of the highest earthly honors, and the worth- 
lessness of all human ambition. And out of it, has 
grown the prompt and appropriate, and in its senti- 
ments and phraseology, feeling recommendation of our 
present Chief Magistrate, which calls us together to- 
day. This first official act, after his assumption of the 
government, is a return to first principles, to the pious • 
sensibilities and godly habits of the patriots of the revo- 
lution, the illustrious founders of this Republic, which 
afford a presage, the first which for many years has 
occurred worthy of any dependence, of returning pros- 
perity. If rightly improved, if carried out in the com- 
mendable spirit of its conception, we may hail it as the 
harbinger of general relief of the distress of which we 
complain, and an indication that the bitterness of social 
and national evil is past. We may regard the experi- 
ment of our Republican form of government as fully 



41 

and successfully tried. We may count again on the 
smiles of a beneficent Providence, and look with confi- 
dence for the same grace which made us, to continue 
us, free and imlepmdenl. "Esto perpetua," is the 
prayer of every true patriot, when ha contemplates our 
invaluable political system, and the security and happi- 
ness and general prosperity which, when well and right- 
eously carried out, it affords to the people. And it will 
be a prayer heard and answered, if God be honored, — 
if his blessing be sought— if his protection and guidance 
be sincerely invoked by those who govern, and they 
who are governed. But not otherwise. For '^right- 
eousness alone, exalteth a nation; while sin is not 
only a reproach, but a snare, a fruitfid source of 
ruin to any peopled 

Such sentiments as these, I am well aware, may be 
and are subjects of ridicule by many, and decried and 
repudiated as fanaticism and priestcraft. It is the boast 
of some who call themselves, par excellence, patriots, 
that in this countiy there is entire freedom from the 
shackles of religious belief and obligation. And this^ 
they account liberty. But it is not liberty, but a most 
dangerous licentiousness. And they, moreover, mis- 
take their position as the privileged participants of our 
political blessings. It is true, no particular form of re- 
hgion is established by law, nor its support enforced by 
legislative enactment. But our republican institutions 
do not, in the way and to the extent they suppose, 
afford ground for their unholy congratulation, that here 
is no union of church and state; and their boast of ex- 
emption from the supposed restraint? and grievances 
6 



4*J 

winch such connection involves. In a certain s6ns« 
indeed, in a sense implying official recognition and di- 
rect support on the part of the government of the coun- 
try, such an union is to be deprecated, and emancipa- 
tion from its thraldom is a matter of congratulation. 
But if there be meant by it, an entire disruption of all 
the ties that bind us to God, and an exemption from 
the salutary restraints which Christianity imposes; so 
far from being a subject of congratulation, it is a fool- 
ish and wicked boast, and must and will be practically 
nugatory, if our republican institutions are to be main- 
tained inviolate, and even continue to exist. "He must 
be blind to all the lessons of experience," says a recent 
eloquent writer, "who would wish to divorce religion 
from government. Never in the history of man, heath- 
en or christian, has that corner stone been withdrawn, 
but the social state has as quickly toppled over into 
ruin. How indeed could it be otherwise, with a thing 
thus rendered baseless; for upon what does a govern- 
ment, in discarding rehgion, rest? Evidently upon no- 
thing (for nothing else remains to it) but mere physical 
force. But then, the superiority of physical force re- 
sides necessarily in the hands of the governed: quickly, 
therefore, would the governed, in such cases, become 
the governors. And as again practical government, 
by its very nature, must soon settle into the hands of a 
few, again must come the overturn of the few by the 
many; and government, falsely thus named, become a 
never ending series of restless revolution. This indeed 
is a lesson, one would think, after the French revolu- 
tion, the world now as little needs, as it would desire 



43 

lo liave repeuiecil Tlie urch ol" religion aloiie, bears 
up the fabric of society out of the unfatliomable gulf 
of anarciiy," * 

These are noble sentiments; and they are sanction- 
ed by experience, and responded to by common sense. 
And the instance alluded to in illustration thereof, is 
singularly apposite, and solemnly instructive, and de- 
serves to be seriously pondered on by the people of this 
republic. Revolutionary France is a standing illustra- 
tion and an awful memento of the divorce of govern- 
ment from God and rehgion. Theii and there., the ex- 
periment was fully tried, and proved an utter failure. 
The liberty which the demagogues of the day vaunted 
of, and with which they gulled the fierce populace, and 
through them rode into power, led en directly to a stern 
despotism, which ruled its subjects with a rod of iron, 
and convulsed, oppressed and devastated continental 
Europe for years with its lust of power and its mad 
ambition. Christianity was abolished by a public edict, 
and pronounced by the constituted authorities of the 
country, to be a stupendous fraud upon mankind. To 
profess it, was made a crime against the State, and 
punished with death. Every feature of it was stu- 
diously obliterated, even its slightest external emblems. 
An appalling atheism usurped its place in the public 
mind, which proclaimed at every corner, ''there is no 
God;'' and wrote on the sepulchres of the dead, the 
heart-chilling sentence,— ''Death is an eternal sleep!" 
The human mind was indeed unfettered by any chains 
beside those which, in its licentiousness, i.tself soon 
forayed and riveted. And what was the result f It is 

* New X'^Tk Review, for April, 1841,— page 314, 



44 

inscribed on the page of history, in letters of blood. A 
people famed for centuries for the courtesies and chari- 
ties of life, became at once a nation of infuriated de- 
mons, revelling in cruelty, in sensuality and in lust. 
The very foundations of society were broken up, and 
Anarchy, with its tyrant sceptre, reigned triumphant. 
The tenderest ties of consanguinity and friendship were 
rudely and savagely severed — the fountain of social 
feeling was broken up, and all the kind and gentle 
sympathies of our common nature were immolated on 
the shrine of their foul idolatry. Moral principle, with 
all the noble characteristics of the soul, were lost amid 
the whirlwind and the storm that devastated the de- 
voted land. Virtue fled affrighted from the scene of 
violence and wickedness; and Humanity wept, blush- 
ing with shame while it wept, over acts of cold blooded 
cruelty, of unappeasable ferocity, unparalleled in the 
records of our race. Justly and forcibly therefore, my 
brethren, does the writer before quoted, remark, in ani- 
madverting on the popular fallacy, that religion is un- 
necessary to the safety of the State, and any connection 
of the one with the other, a thing to be deprecated as 
inimical to liberty, — "deeper than man's will, older 
than any history but that of man, is the origin of this 
sneered at alliance of Church and State. Sole rem- 
nant, we say, of Paradise, if rightly understood and 
duly practised. Were it not indeed for this '■saW with- 
in it, society must needs have long since putrified in its 
corruption, under the follies, the crimes, and the infidel 
philosophy of men. Were it not for the 'Church' with- 
in the 'Stnfo,^ the visible forms we mean of christian 
faith, and their invisible and ceaseless working keeping 



4p 

guard over its safety, how quickly would an infidel 
State either crumble into ruin, or rush into madness! 
Where, we ask, are the bolts and bars that would suf- 
fice, when the walls and towers that could give strength 
to a State that knew not God, and recognized no con- 
science, and had no fear but what man could do unto 
it? ****** * Such 
was ever the teaching of even the heathen's better phi- 
losophy. Quid vante leges sine morihus proficiunt? 
Where can law rest but upon morals, and where mo- 
rals, but upon religion? Quis custodiet ipsos cus- 
todes? Who shall guard our guardians'? Who keep 
our keepers? Who rule the ruler? Who, answers 
Plato, but God? * # * *"-{- And, my 
brethren, a wiser than Plato proclaims, what universal 
experience teaches, that ''tlie fear of God,''' with 
States, no less than with individuals, " is the begin- 
ning of wisdom/' and " except the Lord build the 
house, they labour in vain who build it; except the 
Lord keep the city-^^nd we may add, the State, — the 
watchmen waketh but in vain."" 

Let us then, beloved brethren, as constituent parts of 
the State, as citizens of this growing Republic, ponder 
these things well, and learn to regard religion, practi- 
cally recognised in our public affairs, and by our public 
men, as the great safeguard of our liberties. Let us, 
so far as we are concerned, and with all the influence 
we can exert, resolve to carry out, practically, the 
laudable recognition of the sovereign Lord of heaven 
and earth, by our rulers, manifested and solemnly pro- 
claimed in the official recommendation of this day, 

t New York Review, April, 1841,— page 31(5. 



^'1W= 



^ 



46 

which, in appropriate and impressive language, sig- 
nificantly commends to the whole American people, 
God — THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS GoD — as their strong 
tower of defence — the source of all their blessings — 
and the only anchor of their political as well as per- 
sonal hope. With humble and contrite hearts, let us 
'''•worship and fall down, and kneel before the Lord 
our Maker;'''' bend low before his footstool, and con- 
fessing our past negligences, our multiplied offences, 
our wilful and presumptuous sins, implore his promised 
and proffered forgiveness and mercy. Let us invoke 
his heavenly benediction, his protecting care, his provi- 
dential goodness, for ourselves and our country. And 
let us determine, in the strength of divine power, by 
precept and example, and with all the influence we pos- 
sess, to set our faces as a flint against the irreligion and 
immorality, the pride, the pomp, the luxury, which are 
so rife in the land; and eschewing every vain and 
worthless dependence, and abandoning every '''•broken 
cistern'''' which we may have '■'■hewed to ourselves,'''' 
return in humble submission, in devout acknowledg- 
ment, in holy confidence to Him who is the "fountain 
OF LIVING WATERS," wheucc aloue flows, and can flow, 
individual and national prosperity, the happiness and 
welfare of the citizens, the stability, the perpetuity and 
the glory of the State. — Amen. 



1&52 



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LiBRflRV OF CONGRESS 



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